Chapter 232: ·Holy Hammer Division Displays Its Might in the First Battle
Beside the blood pillar, the newly born Formless Spawn was also caught in the wave of freezing air. A thick layer of frost spread across its body, and its movements visibly stiffened.
But its physical strength was simply too terrifying. After only a second of hesitation, it let out a furious roar and violently shattered the icy restraints binding it.
“Now!” Kayan roared. “Holy Hammer Division! Formation!”
“Hah!”
Fifty Holy Hammer Division soldiers bellowed in unison as the golden scripture engraved upon their black armor blazed brilliantly. Dividing themselves into squads of five, they rapidly formed compact battle units and charged toward the freed Formless Spawn like a torrent of black steel.
“First Squad, frontal suppression!”
The largest soldier among them roared as he took the lead. Slamming his massive tower shield into the ground, he caused the golden scripture upon its surface to flare to life, forming a visible golden barrier.
ROAR!
The Formless Spawn’s black tentacles lashed down with shrieking force.
BOOM!
The tentacles slammed heavily against the golden barrier, but only caused ripples to spread across the light without breaking through in the slightest. The soldier planted his feet firmly into the earth and endured the monstrous blow head-on.
“Second and Third Squads, flank suppression!”
The remaining two squads closed in from both sides. Their war hammers also glowed with golden radiance, each strike landing precisely upon the creature’s joints and the roots of its tentacles.
Golden holy light collided with the vile power of corruption, producing sharp sizzling sounds as black smoke continuously rose into the air. The Formless Spawn writhed violently in pain, trying desperately to throw off the irritating attackers swarming around it.
But the Holy Hammer Division soldiers coordinated flawlessly.
Their offense and defense flowed together seamlessly. They advanced and retreated with perfect timing, always withdrawing the instant the monster counterattacked, then pouncing forward again the moment its strikes missed. Bit by bit, they kept the creature completely pinned down.
“Fourth Squad, prepare purification!”
Another squad rushed forward, though they did not join the melee directly. The five soldiers quickly took position and raised their war hammers high, aiming the hammerheads toward the trapped Formless Spawn at the center.
Then they began chanting short but forceful holy verses.
Third-circle hymn, Sethis’ Purifying Blade of the World.
“Let all filth and darkness perish, holy flames cleanse the land!”
“By divine judgment, let the sacred blade purge all nations!”
The original hymn contained three hundred and twenty-two words, yet they had compressed it into only nineteen. Though inferior to Kayan’s mastery, such an achievement was still exceptional even within the Mother Goddess Temple.
As they chanted, the golden light radiating from the five war hammers suddenly converged into a single dazzling beam brighter than ever before, like a spear of divine judgment crashing violently into the Formless Spawn.
“SKREEEE—!”
The creature released a shrill scream of agony.
Where the golden beam struck, its flesh rapidly dissolved and purified, leaving behind a massive hollow cavity. Black blood gushed outward, only to be instantly vaporized the moment it touched the sacred light.
“Well done!” Kayan shouted fervently, his pupils glowing brilliant gold from the concentrated power. “I’ll finish it!”
He lunged forward in a single step and leapt high into the air, the Cross Staff in his hand tracing a radiant golden arc.
“In the name of the Mother Goddess, begone evil!”
BOOM!
The golden staff, wrapped in surging holy power, smashed directly into the wound blasted open by the purification beam.
Holy flames erupted instantly from within the creature’s body, swallowing the enormous monster whole.
In only a few breaths, the abomination formed from rotting flesh was reduced entirely to ash within the blazing sacred fire, leaving not even a trace behind.
“Beautiful!”
Watching from behind, Nolan could not help praising them aloud.
The Holy Hammer Division had performed even better than he expected. Not only were these young warriors unwavering in faith, their combat discipline was also remarkably high. Under Kayan’s command, they were practically born to hunt evil creatures.
But now was not the time for praise.
Nolan’s gaze shifted past the Holy Hammer Division celebrating their first victory and landed on the ritual node still erupting with a pillar of blood. It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary signpost, hidden so well by Rosm that nobody had ever noticed anything unusual about it.
He pushed off the ground and shot forward. Nolan moved with astonishing speed, leaving behind a blurred afterimage across the chaotic battlefield.
Several Wood Elf puppets standing in his path were blown aside by the gust generated from his passing before they could even react.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived before the signpost serving as the ritual node.
At first glance, it looked no different from the countless other signposts scattered throughout Forest Home. It had been carved from a special type of wood and engraved with the elegant script unique to the Wood Elves.
But now, its entire body glowed with an ominous dark red hue, continuously spewing blood skyward to fuel the enormous eight-pointed star formation above.
Without the slightest hesitation, golden holy flames ignited across Mountain’s Resonance in Nolan’s hand.
“Break!”
With a low roar, he swung the holy flame-covered sword downward with overwhelming force.
Crack!
The ritual node proved far sturdier than it appeared. When Mountain’s Resonance struck it, the impact rang out like clashing steel.
But Nolan’s strength was terrifying in its own right. Combined with the suppressive effect holy flames held over evil creations, the full-force strike of a Gold-rank warrior instantly covered the signpost with cracks.
Immediately afterward, Nolan twisted his wrist and followed with another vicious horizontal slash.
BANG!
The stubborn ritual node could finally endure no longer and exploded apart.
As the node shattered, the crystalline forest formed from blood in the sky trembled violently. One corner suddenly collapsed into countless crimson particles that scattered into the air.
Within the massive interwoven eight-pointed star enveloping all of Forest Home, one of its corners dimmed accordingly.
“The holy flames work!”
Turning back toward the Holy Hammer Division, Nolan shouted loudly, “Holy Hammer Division, hear my command! Split into squads and move separately! Destroy every ritual node as quickly as possible!”
“Vivi!” he called again. “Did you locate all the nodes?”
“Of course!” Vivi’s clear voice rang out from atop a nearby tree.
While helping resist the Wood Elf assault earlier, she had not remained idle for even a moment. Nolan had already warned her this situation might occur, and relying on her agile movements and sharp eyesight, she had climbed high above the battlefield and taken in the entire layout.
“There are sixteen nodes in total. I’ve memorized all their positions!” she replied while lightly leaping down from the tree, landing steadily beside Nolan. “Now there are only fifteen left.”
“Understood!”
Kayan immediately acknowledged the order, and the Holy Hammer Division soldiers prepared to split apart.
But at that moment, Nolan suddenly frowned and spun around sharply.
The shattered fragments of the ritual node he had just destroyed were writhing.
Then, before everyone’s eyes, the broken wood pieces began reassembling themselves. At the same time, the remaining fifteen nodes in the sky flared with bloody radiance as torrents of energy converged toward the destroyed node and poured into it.
Almost instantly, the shattered signpost regenerated itself completely.
Above them, the missing section of the crystalline forest regrew as well.
The colossal phantom of Crimson Corruption seemed to sense something. Its faceless head, formed from rotting roses and flesh, slowly turned toward Nolan.
A gaze swept across him. It was utterly emotionless. There was no anger, no mockery, only complete indifference. Even as an incomplete incarnation that had yet to fully descend, it still possessed the power of a demigod.
“This won’t work…”
A weak voice sounded behind Nolan.
Supported by Ailindel, Romina’s face was deathly pale, but her eyes remained exceptionally clear.
“I can feel it. The formation has already connected itself to the source of the Foundation of Life. As long as its power continues being stolen, the nodes can regenerate endlessly. We can’t destroy them faster than they can repair themselves. Unless… all the nodes are destroyed simultaneously in a single instant…”
“That’s impossible.”
Kayan walked over as well, his brows tightly furrowed and his expression grave.
“My lord, every node is guarded by at least one Formless Spawn, and their numbers are still increasing. One squad handling one creature is already our limit. We don’t have enough manpower.”